Understand why and how nurse practitioners are almost physicians; know what kind of nurses go through nurse practitioner schools.
Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with graduate-level education. They are experts in the field, having obtained either a Master’s degree in Nursing or a doctorate degree. There are a number of nurse practitioner schools in the country offering courses that transform registered nurses into managers, instructors or other positions that engage in advanced nursing practice.
A nurse practitioner (NP) is also referred to as an advanced practice registered nurse (ARPN). Technically, an NP is described by the International Council of Nurses as “a registered nurse who has acquired the expert knowledge base, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for expanded practice, the characteristics of which would be determined by the context in which s/he is credentialed to practice”. As experts, they are given special responsibilities that other nurses cannot perform.
Nurse practitioners are mostly assigned to assist in the giving of anesthesia, providing acute or chronic care, taking care of people with a learning disability, providing adult health care, and so on. These nurses have gone through extensive education and training, and have taken a special board certification in providing special care. Little infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and patients with acute cases need individualized care that only the best trained nurses can provide.
As do other registered nurses, NPs focus on the condition of patients and their ability to recover.
They look into the effects of the illness not only on the patient but also on the lives of his or her family. For this reason, NPs educate both patients and families about the pressing illness, possible cure, prescribed medicines, roads to recovery, health maintenance, and so on.
A nurse practitioner is in charge of conducting physical exams, taking patient history, and taking diagnostic tests and interpreting them. With or without advice from a physician, a nurse practitioner can diagnose the problem and provide treatment. For cases beyond an NP’s scope, a physician will be called on immediately.
How wide exactly is the scope of NPs and how far can they provide care without a physician? The answers vary from state to state. Generally, as outlined by the International Council of Nurses, the scope of an NPs job involves provision of diagnoses, research, case management, advanced health assessment, and program consultation.
Almost always, it is an NP that first gets in contact with patients.
In some states, an NP normally works independently from a physician and can make critical decisions. In other states, they work in close collaboration with physicians. From state to state, there is a varying degree of NP-physician collaboration, administration of medicines and treatments, provision of pharmacologic prescriptions, performance of diagnoses, and so on.
Basically, the following are the responsibilities of a nurse practitioner: they diagnose, treat, evaluate, and manage cases involving acute and chronic illnesses.This one task itself is identical to what physicians do. NPs also conduct physical examinations and based on the results, make the necessary prescriptions.
Nurse practitioners may prescribe drugs and physical therapy. They are also called on to care for infants. They provide prenatal care, give family planning advice, and perform child care activities such as infant screening and immunization.
They are also called on for other specialized care responsibilities.An NP can perform but mostly assists in minor surgeries. With so much riding on an NP’s shoulder, nurse practitioner schools are tasked to prepare them well through different programs, including family nurse practitioner programs.


